What is the use of paying hundreds of dollars per week on rent just to sell a few products through a storefront when you can sell everything easily and efficiently online? That is the question a lot of potential small business owners are asking themselves whilst they piece together the intricate details of their business plan. An e-commerce driven online store can prove to be a much more effective and profitable means of selling your products or services to the public.
E-commerce (electronic commerce or EC) is the buying and selling of goods and services on the Internet, especially the World Wide Web. In practice, this term and a newer term, e-business, are often used interchangeably. The beauty of e-commerce, similar to a number of Internet-based technologies, is that it allows new or existing small business owners to sell their unique product or service to the masses without requiring a large sum of capital in order to get the ball rolling. This, in itself, has proven to be the key factor in popularising e-commerce to the level it is today.
The cost differences between opening an online store to a real storefront are alarmingly huge. The fact is that you can easily open an online store for approximately two thousand dollars whereas opening a physical storefront will incur costs for rent, fitting out, signage, product displays and much, much more. As small business owners, we are daunted by the fact of having to spend large sums of money that, in most cases, we don't have. An online store gives us the ability to unleash our products/services to the public without burning a hole in our back pocket.
E-commerce has a number of uses and these extend much further than just having an online store. Various businesses use e-commerce as a means of accepting donations, site registrations, project progress payments, bill payments, receiving payments for online games, purchasing goods on eBay and more. Think of it this way, whenever a financial transaction takes place via the Internet, you can thank e-commerce and its accompanying technologies.
So, can you trust e-commerce given that there are hackers and malicious viruses around? The simple answer is yes, you can. Although a lot of movies, television shows and other forms of media depict e-commerce as being an insecure method of payment, the truth of the matter is that they are all wrong. Online stores and other online service providers use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certificates to encrypt any data that is transferred between your computer and the remote host thus ensuring a secure connection while your transaction takes place. E-commerce is a secure method of payment and can work in favour for both store owners and shoppers alike. It all comes down to the end user. By ensuring your operating system and antivirus software is up to date, you can rest assured that your online shopping experience will be a happy one.
If you are in the process of starting your own business and are interested in selling goods or services, it would be in your interests to consider opening an online store before jumping the gun and renting a large store within a shopping centre. The costs differences between the two are staggering and the savings you can make are even higher. Never underestimate the power of the World Wide Web. Many business owners are currently utilising this technology and are making a killing in the process. You too can join them.
